Beauty and Social Cognition

At the end of January I wrote about how sex sells in the post, Is Victoria's Secret Too Sexy For Their Own Good?: "Sex Sells." I've put some additional thought into this topic and how cognitive thinking makes us react to certain types of beauty (If you don't know what cognitive thinking means read this post).

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

How many movies do you enjoy watching because the aesthetics are pleasing?

I love watching some movies just because of the era (I love the time of the French Revolution and the 1920's to 1960's). I enjoy watching any movie with Brad Pitt or Matthew McConnehey just because the actors are attractive. Other movies are great because of the love story like Serendipity, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, He's Just Not That Into You. I just love to see airplanes and fighter pilots in Top Gun. Some movies I enjoy the British accents (or just accents in general but Love Actually is great for this), and a select few are great for their interior design (Something's Gotta Give).

Knowing what kinds of movies you like, clothing you wear or types of websites you think are pretty is the first step to understanding your style. Find multiple styles that are already perfected on someone else's style and then combine them with other things you like, while subtracting the part you don't care for.

Knowing YOUR Design Style

Everyone has a sense of style (whether you know it or not). What you think is beauty may not be mainstream, but that is your style. The trick is to make sense of your style. Interior designers and graphic designers can often see things that you may not. Your style may be based off of symmetry, color, usability, an era or simplicity.

Overdoing Style or Forgetting your Focus

A lot of people over do their style by not combining empty space with style and thus creating clutter. Some people love a certain color or lack of colors too much and end up with a bland environment. Usability is often forgot in web design when people try to get too creative and forget that a call to action is important. Another tricky part of design is when you need to combine styles.

Combing Styles

Maybe your company is merging with another company and your brand needs updated or maybe you are getting married and the interior decorating is going hay wire. Finding a middle ground is never easy, and this is where professional help is sometimes necessary. Some people are lucky and their significant other has a style that they love, but if that is not the case in your world stay focused on finding a middle ground. What do you love and need? What colors do you mutually like? If you are having a hard time agree on colors consider tones and try looking at magazines together. Piecing together fabrics, textures, colors and magazine images can also help a graphic, web or interior designer understand where you are coming from and make the design process run a little smoother. Remember a picture is worth 1,000 words.

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